Cooper, Rice confirm split

In the past few weeks, rumours of a break-up have dogged Cooper and Stephanie Rice, who got together in August last year.

But this week, Rice, a triple Olympic gold medallist, confirmed she had parted ways with the Wallabies five-eighths.

"Stephanie has officially split with Quade and will be focusing 100 per cent on her Olympic preparation," Rice's manager, Titus Day, told Confidential.

Australian newspaper the Herald Sun reported the split had "been coming for a while" and that the couple both moved out of Rice's $1.26 million, four-bedroom house in the upmarket Brisbane suburb of Paddington in October.